Road to the NatWest 6 Nations: Irish wingers and English defence impress

13 November 2017 15:43pm

By Paul Eddison

Jacob Stockdale and Andrew Conway both took their chance out wide for Ireland

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All six countries from the NatWest 6 Nations opened their November accounts over the weekend with a number of standout performances across the board.

Ireland recorded a record win over South Africa, winning 38-3, while Scotland beat Samoa 44-38 in a thriller in Edinburgh and Italy overcame Fiji 19-10 in Sicily.

England also extended their winning run at Twickenham, downing Argentina 21-8, but France and Wales lost to New Zealand and Australia respectively.

We've taken a look at some of the standout performers across the board to see who shone with a view to the rest of the Autumn and the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations.

IRISH THREAT OUT WIDE

In the absence of the injured Keith Earls, Ireland turned to a relatively inexperienced pair of wingers in Andrew Conway and Jacob Stockdale.

Conway had been handed his international debut off the bench against England in March, while Stockdale got his chance on the summer tour, but with both starting in Dublin for the first time, they took their chance against the Springboks.

Conway got the first try of the game for the Irish, and racked up more metres with ball in hand than any other player from across the six countries, with 99.

Stockdale meanwhile played the entire game, and with time up on the clock, pounced for his second try in three Tests.

With the pair also contributing three clean breaks apiece, Joe Schmidt will have been delighted at the potential shown by his international newcomers.

Wales might have ended on the losing side against Australia, but in winger Steff Evans they have had one of the outstanding performers in Europe over the last 18 months.

The 23-year-old was rewarded with a first cap on Wales' summer tour and he built on that against the Wallabies. Evans beat a remarkable eight defenders, scored a try, and was a constant threat with ball in hand.

I think @steffevs09 is a breath of fresh air in this Welsh team. He works hard off the ball, he's gutsy and isn't afraid to try things! Always going to be a danger in attack! He's going to get better with every game ??

When you look at the final scorelines at BT Murrayfield and Twickenham, it's easier to imagine England players leading the way in the tackle stakes, but a number of Scots also put in a shift in defence.

Jonny Gray's 16 tackles with none missed was second only to Wales' Josh Navidi, who certainly stepped up in the absence of Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, making 18.

CJ Stander was another who was flawless on 16 occasions, although the most made by any player was Courtney Lawes with 24 against the Pumas for just one miss.

Mattia Bellini made his debut in the Championship in 2016 but has had to bide his time for regular game time with the Azzurri. He started on the wing against Fiji and certainly made his presence felt, making 77 metres and beating five defenders as he built on his recent form with Zebre.

That was enough to help Italy to an important win over the Fijians ahead of this week's clash with Argentina.

Another man with limited Test experience who stood out was France scrum-half Antoine Dupont. Still only 20 years old, he was unquestionably the star performer for Les Bleus against the world champions.

While his team spent much of the game on the back foot, Dupont managed to rack 91 metres with ball in hand, made a round-leading four clean breaks and beat seven defenders. Not bad for a first Test start!

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